Catamount Conditions

[abe]

Catamount 1/30 report. Ghost town. Snow was quite icy in the morning, cloudy, muddy, and kind of dreary, but softened up into a decent condition in the afternoon with the sun coming out. Very thin cover in spots. There was natural snow on the ground over most of the mountain, at least under the trees and higher up, but very thin. Glades under the meadows lift would have been barely skiable but were closed. Promenade was closed for grooming. Snowmaking was starting up on Catapult. A few other guys were working on the glade triple. All trails had been groomed.

I've never been to the place before, it's a neat spot with a nice view. I would have liked to have been able to ski more of the trails had they. been open. The ridge quad seems slow to me and I think they could use a tree planting program on the main slope in front of the lodge. The staff was very friendly and looked like they were all having a good time.

What's the deal with these fan guns? Are they homemade or just really old?

 

[MarzNC]

The Glade triple chair is going to operate at Catamount this weekend! Just passed the load test and got the go ahead a few days ago. Been a two year construction process.

Snowmaking in progress for Friday night, Feb. 17, to get ready for the holiday week.

 

[Jim]

I used my second Catamount Indy day today for a nice day of spring skiing. Things were still firm except where the sun was direct when I got on the snow after 10. The skies were clear all day, with temps starting just above freezing and probably getting just over 50 by early afternoon. Conditions changed as the day went on as you'd expect on a mild, sunny March day. Catapult was my favorite run of the day for sure, and was good on every run. I am pretty sure I hit my top speeds of the season on Catapult today. Ripper was closed when I first went by, then opened up after lunch. Half of it was groomed since the snow, but not last night. My first run down was a little rough, with a lot of areas scraped down to hard-to-edge concrete. On later runs, I stuck to the skiers right near the part that had not been groomed at all and found plenty of nice soft snow to turn in. The glades off the triple chair looked skiable and probably kind of fun but were clearly roped off. The less steep stuff got grabby in spots as the snow really got slushy in the sun by mid-afternoon.

As others have noted, last week's storm was really elevation-dependent. Lots of significant tree damage was apparent on my drive, and some on the mountain as well. The natural snow was no longer very deep, and was going fast. On the drive home, lower areas were completely snow free. The deepest snow I saw was in the hills along Route 30 between Schoharie and Amsterdam.

 

[WillowKat]

How is Catamount doing?

 

[JK_PA]

How is Catamount doing?

I was up in the Berkshires last week and I wanted to stop by Catamount but decided on Jiminy and Berkshire East instead. Just one top-to-bottom black run being open would have been enough to convince me for a day at Catamount. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I just checked their website and the weather is finally cold enough to make some snow (with Upper Glade being one of the trails getting snow last night). This is a good sign.

 

[Jim]

For my first day of the season away from Royal, I used an Indy day at Catamount this afternoon about 12:30-3. It was pretty much what I expected it would be: lots of loose granular, mixed in with way more gravel than you'd like in some stretches, some really hard pack, but then some nice patches where the snowmakers have been out. More dings on the bottom of my skis today on day 10 of my season than the first 9 days combined. The best runs of the day for me were on Catamount and On Stage, so I took more runs than I normally would off the short Catamount chair. Catamount had snow made on it recently, and On Stage was chopped up from race training that was wrapping up when I arrived but both were fun. The only option from the NY summit was down Ridge Run to the top of Meadows. Mountain Run and Walter's Way were home to some of the worst gravel mixed with the loose granular. Snow was being made, despite a base temp in the mid 30's. Only one gun near the bottom near the beginner area was problematic, wetting down skiers passing by... Lots of guns going on various trails on the NY side, as well as on the Race Slope. No sign of any snow being made on any of the steeper trails near the middle yet. There were more people than I expected, but I never waited at all for a chair. More often than not, the lift attendants were inside and had to come out when I entered the line. Overall, it's a day that would be disappointing on a more normal January 2, but given 0 natural snow and all the recent rainstorms, I'd say Catamount is doing a pretty good job with what they have to work with. Glad I went.

 

[WillowKat]

I read that Catamount had lots of "death cookies".

Spring skiing in January I guess?

 

[Jim]

I read that Catamount had lots of "death cookies".

Spring skiing in January I guess?

On Tuesday, there were some but not terrible. Worst was skiers left on the bottom of Holiday cutting left toward the lodge area. Giant cookies, then gravely, brownish loose granular, then a wet snow gun, then super slick hard pack down toward the bottom of the Catamount chair. Hopefully snowmaking since then has remedied all of that.

 

[not2brite]

Skied here Tuesday and Wednesday. Had a season pass a few years ago but the place was a mess so I stopped going. Decided to give it another try. They seem to have finished all their projects and the place was in good shape. When its all or mostly open this place is a total blast as a changeup for me from Belleayre. They have some really fun terrain for a small place and trails were all in great shape.

 

[WillowKat]

Catamount was kinda icy yesterday, but still had a good time. Love the weekday crowds!!!!